I’m watching early election results on TV as I check out the financial blog carnivals of the week.

Yes, I work as a newspaper reporter. No, I’m not working on election night. I was offered a spot, but I had to back off. My in box was too jammed up, and too many of those deadlines were approaching. I really needed a few hours at the office this afternoon to take care of those tasks. I did make progress on that stuff and I’ll be going to bed around 9 p.m.

I did, however, contribute to the election day atmosphere at work by bringing in treats and blogging at Behind the Headlines on election topics. If you are one of my local readers, do check out the news feeds at monroenews.com – there’s some really neat multimedia projects in the works tonight!

Besides, I know from past experience that the election night reporters will run out of steam after Wednesday’s paper goes to press in the late morning. They’ll go home and sleep off the day,  but somebody has to answer the phone calls and greet the customers who stop by.

I will be among those “relief pitchers” in the newsroom on Wednesday.

Now, after the election headlines fade away, many of us who live Michigan and in other parts of the country will still be dealing with an economic crisis. How can we get through that mess with minimal damage? Time to check in with the money bloggers from across the Internet.

The Nov. 3 Carnival of Personal Finance was hosted by The Sun’s Financial Diary. Here are some of the posts you’ll find on all things financial:

• Simply Forties presents Talking to your kids about money: “By joining together to solve economic problems hopefully one of those effects will be stronger, closer families and a new generation of kids who know how to manage money.” I learned how to shop with grocery coupons by watching my mother. My daughter learned how to fill out a scholarship application from my explanation of what the scholarship committees are looking for. What financial skills are you teaching your kids?
• Amateur Asset Allocator presents I was laid off yesterday: “Cut back expenses to the bone: no eating out, no unnecessary trips, no going out except for networking purposes …” There was a time when we had a family outing at the IMAX theater in Dearborn because the tickets were bought days before my husband’s layoff notice, … and we sadly passed on the opportunity to also tour The Henry Ford Museum that day because we had NOT purchased the museum tickets yet.
• Living Almost Large presents Is poor the new affluence?: “So is living “poor” or frugally going to be the new status symbol?  Are we all going to try to Keep up with the “Frugalites” instead of the Joneses?” The anectodal evidence and word of mouth among southeast Michigan residents seems to be going in that direction. Then again, a lot of us don’t have many other options.

The Festival of Frugality for Nov. 4 was hosted by Bargain Briana. Here are some of the posts you’ll find on frugal living concepts:

• Harvesting Dollars presents Preparations to become a one-income family: “Create a budget based on just the remaining income. We’ve been doing this for about 1/2 a year, and I am now confident that we can make ends meet on just my current income.” Even if working mom will be on a minimal six-week maternity leave, you need to adjust to whatever lower income you will have for that time frame. Example: I had NO paid leave except for three weeks banked vacation and sick leave when my daughter was born, thanks to seniority that was based on my full-time hire date instead of my temporary hire date.
• My Two Dollars presents The Big List – 1,019 different ways to save money: ” In these times, we all need to do everything we can to save money, even if it is only a little bit.” I’m going to bookmark that post and do some more poking around!
• Cheap Healthy Good presents Cheap, healthy sick – 10 easy, nutritious foods for when you’ve contracted the plague: “While I try to avoid microwave cookery as much as possible, there’s something to be said for a square meal prepared in four minutes.” I love the headline, by the way. I keep cans of soup in the pantry for these occasions; but TV dinners would be a sensible purchase while the pharmacy is filling that prescription.
  
• Monroe on a Budget presents Don’t freak over expired coupons, just throw them out. “If it really bothers you that much, then sort your coupon box so that your “soon to expire” coupons are the first ones you see.” If you fret too much about spending that coupon, you won’t be watching the bottom line. The coupons are just one of your frugal living crayons – there are other crayons you can use too.